Dependent

How long can we go without air? For most of us, 3 to 5 minutes is the maximum. Trained breath-hold divers can go well beyond this, but even for them, the limit is in minutes.

How long can we go without water? A lot of factors come into play, but for most of us the limit is 3 to 5 days, with few able to go past 3. The limit is in days.

How long can we go without food? If we’re healthy to start with and have plenty of water, the limit is about 3 weeks. People who go on hunger strikes and have a support team can sometimes go as much as 6 weeks.

We don’t like to think about it, but we’re incredibly fragile. Dependent, for our very lives, on continual supplies of air, water, food.

From the very first sentence you’ve figured out that I’m going to suggest a spiritual application. How long can we go without spiritual food? What do we even mean by the term “spiritual food”?

A clear example is given by Jesus in John 6:35-58—his body is bread and his blood is drink (spiritually). This is a gruesome figure, and it turned a lot of people off. Jesus must have known and intended the shock value of this. He clearly meant something radical, even if spiritual and not literal. Something most would not accept, and very tough for even the most loyal followers.

At the meal we usually call the last supper, Jesus shared literal bread and wine with his followers. He prayed before sharing each one. He said that the bread was his body and the wine was his blood—clearly intending it spiritually once again. And he commanded his followers to regularly repeat this acted-out parable. (Mark 14:22-25, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

In this Jesus points out our need for regular intake of spiritual food and drink. How long can we go without it? By the way, if we consume the bread and wine as a rote ritual, I think that’s equivalent to putting food into our mouths and then spitting it out. It has to be swallowed, taken into ourselves, to have any nourishing value.

Jesus gave his body—he lived his life—as a servant of his Father. He commands that we take this in. He gave his blood—poured out his life—to seal the covenant, which we are invited to enter. He commands that we take this in. Commands that we do it regularly. Commands that we do it mindfully, aware and focused on what it means. Renewing our participation in the covenant, renewing our dedication to live our own lives as servants, and (as Jesus did) linking it all to the hope of the Kingdom and sharing it with Jesus himself.

How long can we go without this kind of food? Maybe a few weeks. Pretty quickly we slide into the life of the world around us, and “eat” things that aren’t good for us.

I don’t have a scriptural reference to back it up, but I’m going to suggest that the water we need is the word of God. How long can we go without having some contact with the word? Maybe a few days. Our minds quickly fill up with garbage. We need the water of the word to wash the junk out, and really, we need it every day. Why go even one day without it? You wouldn’t intentionally stop drinking water for a days at a time.

What of the air? What’s the spiritual equivalent? We eat daily, we drink hourly, but we breathe continually. Might be a question to discuss with your family or your study group. We’re talking about the “breath of life”, which is given by God and which makes us alive. (Genesis 2:7) Maybe the spiritual air we constantly need is a continual awareness of God in our lives, in the lives of all those around us, in the Creation. In all life now, and in the hope of eternal life.

We’re fragile, utterly dependent on a constant supply of food, water, air. If nothing else, we should take the lesson of dependence, and honor the One who gives life and sustains life every moment.

Love, Paul